The Ecofeminism Thought of Thomas Hardy

田雪靜　曲俊閣

【Abstract】It is known that Thomas Hardy is one of most prestigious writers in the history of English literature. In many of his works， the attention he paid to the relationship between human and nature are clearly acknowledged by readers and masterpiece in order that the human being can establish a harmonious world to live in. Thomas Hardy made great influence on the following scholars to do the research in the deep sense. Therefore， this paper focuses on the ecofeminism thought of Thomas Hardy together with his main works.

【Key words】Ecofeminism； Thomas Hardy； man and women； human and nature

I. Introduction of Eco-feminism

Since the term “ecofeminism” was first brought up in the 1970s by Francoise DEaubonne， many scholars have begun doing research on this issue. Meanwhile， in the following decades， they began to pay more attention to the relationship between the nature and human. Furthermore， as the status of women in various aspects of the society was higher than before， more and more women began to fight for their rights to against the oppression of them. From the 1960s to 1970s， in the literature research culture and society are the critical important point. In 1980， a significant conference was held in the USA， whose title was “Women and Life on Earth：Eco-Feminism in the Eighties”. People who attended the conference asserted the rights of women and fought against the man-centered rules as well as the unfair way of treating environment. During the process of this movement many different schools of this thoughts all call for the equality and against the unjustified of women and nature.

In this theory， women give birth to the life because of their unique physical structure. At the same time， the nature can be regarded as the mother who nurtures and breeds the world， as nature itself is just a kindly female who provided for the needs of mankind. During the process of this movement， many scholars and critics began to focus on women and the nature. Women were given more chances and high status in the society， and the attention to the female was clearer in more and more literary works. People tend to take environmental protection in to consideration because the pollution from the industry. Therefore， the significant movement in the whole western world had great influence on the literary arena.

II. Thomas Hardy and His Works

Thomas Hardy was born on June 2， 1840， and died on January 11， 1928. He was a famous British poet and novelist. His works spanned two centuries at the end of the 19th century， the early twentieth century， the early and middle stages of the creation of novels， the inheritance and development of the Victorian literary tradition；the late period with his excellent poetry developed the literature of the 20th century in England. During the progress of the earliest study of literature， philosophy and theology. Hardy published about 20 novels in his life， including the works of wessex， the early and late lyric， Tess of the d primary. Among them， Tess of the DUrbervilles and other works were taken into the film， widely acclaimed.

Thomas hardy， though celebrated in posterity， was born in a rural area family of the decline aristocracy in Dorset， England. His work is also the main background of the natural environment of the wilderness， an agricultural area with little industry. It is therefore， he has been living in the agricultural county atmosphere， and he is very familiar with the life of farmers， character， customs， language and so on. He observed the tragic consequences of the agricultural crisis in Dao， describing the disaster suffered by farmers in the region. But he explained the reason of social change with idealism， and thought that the domination of mans fate was “The will of the universe”. This is a fatalistic view. He met the famous linguist and poet of Dorset， Barnes. Affected by it， hardy began to study literary and philosophical works， and taught himself Greek， reading the bible and other theological works. Then he went to London to work for an architect. But eventually， because the body cannot adapt to the London climate， return to hometown. Engaged in architectural work， and at the same time began literary creation. Hardys literary career began in poetry， but later became a novel creation. His first novel was “meter”. His fourth novel， Far from the Hubbub Crowd was popular again in his time. His novels are divided into three categories：novels of character and environment， romance and fantasy novels and novels of structure. Among them， the first category is the most important. In 1914， he got married with his secretary. E.， who wrote his biography after his death. After the death of Thomas hardy in Dorset， his ashes were buried in Westminster abbey. According to his wishes， his heart was buried in the churchyard at Gregory Benford， near his birthplace. Hardy is still one of the most readers of the Victorian novelists.

The most famous work is the content change of Tess of the DUrbervilles. In the subtitle of the novel， hardy called the heroine “a pure woman” and openly challenged the false social morality of the Victorian era. The novel describes the unfortunate fate of a pure girl. The protagonist Tess is a beautiful peasant girl， because of the master of the master lured away from pregnancy. Since then， this shameful fact deprives her of the right to accept true love， and on the wedding night she was abandoned by her husband. All sorts of helpless， she returned to the young masters side， but at this time her husband thousand Li returns， in order to be reconciled with her. Tess， for her true love， she killed the master， and gathered with her husband， and finally walked up to the gallows.

III. The Eco-feminism in Hardys works

It is obvious that there is very pessimism in Hardys novels and it is not hard to see some eco-feminism thoughts in his works， too. He thought that the tragedy of Tess and Jude was determined by the will of god， no matter how hard people tried and resisted， they would never escape from the will of god. He attributed the tragedy of the workers and peasants to the joke of fate， not to reveal the social causes of the tragedy， and thus weaken the social significance of the works. His main novels have broken the shackles of traditional novels on characters and plots， and again human beings from the perspective of heredity and environment. This is a typical naturalistic writing style， filled with a pessimistic tone：in the face of nature and society， human beings are often controlled by some super power. They are like animals living in the woods and can play with fun while the sun is shining. Once the storm has come to panic， the compromise surrender have been able to survive， the defiance can only suffer greater failure. The objective and calm writing tone of naturalism has continued in the modernism and even post - modernism， and the later works of Thomas hardy， especially poetry， are obviously modernistic. Woolf called him “the greatest master of tragedy in British fiction”， and Weber called him “Shakespeare in British fiction”. It is clear that in Thomas Hardys works especially in his masterpiece the attention paid to the female and the nature was obvious. The description of the sightseeing in his novel is also a reflection on the eco-feminism. During his writing career of 70 years， he portrayed the women with real flesh and blood vividly. At the same time， the natural connection between women and nature are explored in the male-centered world. In the male-dominated world， nature and women are the victims of the capitalist industrial society. His condemnation on the capitalist industrial civilization is embodied in his disclosing of the male-dominated and capitalist laws which are hypocritical and illegal.

Thomas Hardy made fierce condemnation of the male-dominated of capitalist industrial civilization. He held the opinion that the nature and women are in the depression of the man-centered world. He portrayed the tragic destination of Tess in his masterpiece. Though she struggled for happiness， she still finds that she cannot get rid of the bitter life. Women in that age cannot possess the real freedom to enjoy their life. At the same time， the nature was spoiled and destroyed by man because of the production of the industrial world. Hardy called for the balance and equality of the world. The seasons described in his pen are connected with the density of the main characters， which can infer the love and pity of the author towards the nature and women.

Conclusion：

As Thomas Hardy， the realist in his time not only wrote novels telling some stories about women whose density is miserable but also paid much attention to the harmonious relationship between the man-centered world and women together with the nature. In the capitalist industrial world， the depression from the male should be fought against. After Thomas Hardy， more and more scholars made research on this field and got significant achievement. The nature are protected better and womens status in the society are improved because people realize that we need a balanced world to live， we need harmony to maintain the peace and beauty that God created. Hardys influence is so far-reaching and profound that the English literary circle began to do more research on eco-feminism. It is certain that Thomas Hardy and his works will continue to shine in literature and radiate new significance.

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